The Bengali Lion

Dashami is the day when Devi Durga goes back to re-unite with Shiva. Durga puja ends with the immersion of idol on that very day. At the time of the parting ceremony (which is called “Devi Boron” in Bengali), before immersion, red sindoor is applied on the forehead of the Goddess and sweets are fed.

 This year Rich was accompanying his Mum-mum during “Devi Boron”. He saw the lion, Devi’s mount (“Vahana”), was also being fed sweets by the ladies.

He came and asked me –

“Why are they feeding Sandesh to the lion?”

I replied without much deliberation – “Lion is also treated as God”.

“Does lion ever eat sweet?” – He clarified.

Finally I understood his intention. I replied – “He is a Bengali Lion who likes to finish his meal with sweets”

Study from Home

After the Puja vacation, Rich was reluctant to go to school. He was not even ready to witness the morning. After lot of coercing by his Mum-mum, he sat on the bed. But he kept on nagging. When it crossed the limit, his Dad-Dad, who was equally reluctant to go to office on the Monday morning, broke his silence. He asked, lying in the bed with half closed eyes, trying to be tough – “Why?”   

The immediate reaction from Rich was -

“If you can work from home why I cannot study from home?”

The question made his Dad-Dad’s eyes wide-open. Mum-mum rescued him saying:

“For everything, there is an age”.

How does Female Robot Look?

Stories work wonder as tranquilizer for Rich. Whenever he is angry, screeching, unwilling you just need to put story on the table. Yesterday I came late from gym. To douse his anger I started telling the story of the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two factions of alien robots (from the movie Transformer) who waged war over “AllSpark”. As preamble, I referred his recent transformer T-shirt and showed him some of the pictures from the Internet.

Once I completed my story, Rich contemplated and asked –

“How does the Female Robot look? Do they exist?”

It was a complete bouncer for me. I had to leave it saying – “Good question. Not sure if they exist. I have not seen a female Robot either.”

True!! Why we do not have female robot? May be the curators are desperate enough to make sure their breeding does not spark without AllSpark.

Foreign Ma’am

Rich feels Namrata Ma’am (his present class teacher) and Ranjini Ma’am (his nursery I class teacher) are both from different country. His reason is that their accents are quite different. Not only English, their Bengali pronunciations sound equally foreign to him.

I am learning the Rich’s way to pronounce English words to be on the same page. Tough time for me - blame it to my seasoned Bengali tongue. I wish I had foreign Ma’am at school too!

Lot to do before I die

On 29th August, Rich had to perform at “Uttam Mancha (Auditorium)”. He knew about the greatest actor of Bengali Cinema. I was showing him the larger-than-life statue of the great person at the time of entering the hall. I was mentioning him that the auditorium is named after him with my overflowing fondness and respect for the icon of Bengali cinema –

“It is like Rabindra Sadan, Rabindra Setu, Vidyasagar Setu – big landmarks are named after great persons. If you…”

The flow was stopped. Rich asked –

“Why there is no Kamales Sadan?”

Worthlessness was so heavy; it shook my inner sole so deeply that I became completely still - a statue looking blankly at another statue. After settling, I replied-

“Till now, I am only able to make a mark on your heart. I am yet to make marks on the hearts of million.”

I do not think that he understood anything from my answer. But I understood from his question that I have lot to do before I die to make the life more meaningful.

Kolkata can never be London

Scorching heat in Kolkata is making our lives miserable. This makes Rich nostalgic about UK. He often reminisces UK-days though when he was there he was very eager to return to Kolkata. We were talking about Mamata Di’s noble idea of turning Tilottama Kolkata to London. Rich overheard our discussion. Rich added – “Kolkata can never be London till we change its weather”. We felt that he has a point. River Thames, medieval architecture, museums, diverse cultures may characterize London but weather has a big role behind its charm.

Why our calls drop?

I still do not know how Rich gets such weird ideas. I am irritated by the frequent call drops on my mobile. Any annoyance or anger manifests into different forms which impact your nears and dears. Rich pacified me telling that this is due to the dizziness of the satellite after rounding earth for months.

Ideal bed for Rich

We were watching TV in the evening. Rich asked me – “What should your ideal bed be made of?” I was taken by surprise with the untimely question. With some deliberation, I said – “It should be made of bird’s feather”. He said – “Mine should be made of python”

We were watching “Python Hunters” in National Geographic Channel. I am still chewing over the idea of sleeping on a python.

Rich’s advice on Holi

Play holi like a king (by applying “tilak” on the forehead) – not like a ghost (by losing your face and identity). He said this after witnessing the frightening faces at the last holi. He was confined to his house on that day. Earlier he played holi at his school by applying “tilak” to each other.

How does human body function without electricity?

Rich was told that our body is a machine. But his doubt is how it functions without electricity. As always he has his own answer. Blood is the electricity which human body requires for its operation. At death, electricity flow stops.

Do not kill rice

Rich does not chew rice as that will kill rice. He gives them a place in his belly by swallowing. He has reason for everything.

Mum-mum is Rich's Earth

Rich always says that Mum-mum is his earth. Today he said - "Mum-mum, you are my earth. Without you, I will start floating in the space aimlessly". Yes! these were his words. My jaw dropped.

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Do not drive Gari in Hurry

I drop Rich at school on my way to office. Generally we start by 8:15 am and it takes 10-15 mins to reach school. School gate closes by 8:30-8:35 am. Yesterday we were late to start from home. We started at 8:20 am. After 8:15 in the morning, 1 min late could be fatal as the traffic increases exponentially after 8 am. I was driving fast – probably dangerously fast dodging other cars. I did not notice Rich was scared. Initially he was very silent. But he was so scared the he could not restrain himself saying – “Dad-Dad, do not drive gari (car) in hurry”. Though I was focused in my driving, the word pierced through my heart. I slowed down. Looked at his face and “Sorry” came out automatically form my mouth.